


Fast Car

by Cass_chan12



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Like this is so cheesy, Lucy is a goddess, Natsu is an amazing boyfriend, One Shot, Romance, Runaway AU, happy is a car in this au, living on the road
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27453484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cass_chan12/pseuds/Cass_chan12
Summary: Being on the open road with one another sounded like heaven to Natsu and Lucy, although they hadn't expected it to be so challenging since the movies made it out to be so easy. Despite the hardships, they were willing to risk it all.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Fast Car

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesweetestnerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesweetestnerd/gifts).



> Here is another Nalu oneshot from the archives dearest ones. This was inspired from Tracy Chapman's song 'Fast car' and The Lumineers song 'Sleep on the floor'. 
> 
> I was being pretty hard on my younger self while editing her work but [sweetestnerd_](https://twitter.com/sweetestnerd_)(twitter) [thesweetestnerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesweetestnerd/pseuds/thesweetestnerd) (AO3) really helped me realise I should be kind to my younger self and my current self. Thank you for your support hun!

The flickering of the campfire nulled their thoughts. The pressures of the months that slowly went by up to this moment were agonising. Both figures huddled by the fire were both near their limits and each one’s tolerance were wearing thin. The light had been flickering off her blonde hair and his pink, creating different shades of colour. They were clinging close, with her head on his shoulder, sharing a thin blanket and braving the cold wind.

Her eyes were becoming heavy and the sound of his even breathing had a calming effect on her, making her drift more into a void. He turned his head to look at her face.

Her blonde bangs were messily pulled back while her eyes were raw and tired but during the day they were alive, full of zeal, full of adventure and embracing something she hadn’t had in so long:

Adventure and an ache for wanderlust.

He straightened up and effectively made her come out of her haze.

“Natsu…?” she said in a cracked voice.

He didn’t answer; he just kept staring into the fire.

“What’s-”

“Are you happy?” he asked, still staring into the flames.

Her eyes became less heavy and she sat up straight, letting the blanket fall to their laps and allowed the cold air awaken her more.

“Of course I am.” She assured.

He didn’t look convinced, his dark onyx eyes darted to her rich brown. “Why? I’ve done nothing but bring you trouble.”

She stood up and turned to him blocking the light of the fire, making her body glow as he looked at her. Her jeans were worn out with multiple rips and she had been wearing those boots for months. The top and jacket she had found in a lost and found after her tank top had reached its time.

She stared at him with ferocity.

“I don’t regret a thing. We had no future back there and I’d pick you over anything else. If you think like that then what we did would be for nothing.”

The struggle they went through would be for nothing.

* * *

The crisp evening air ran up through Natsu’s body with his back pressed against the luxurious building. There were guards posted by the entrances which made his entry not easy in the slightest. He tried to keep his cool considering his urge to throw fists at every guard he sees.

Hiding from the posted guards was tough on its own but to keep from plain sight from within the house and the cameras was another task on its own. So many people worked at the estate. Natsu hid under the sight of people inside the main house by ducking under the window and then jumped into bushes when the guards came near.

He really was getting tired of this but thankfully he finally reached his destination. Looking up he found a quaint balcony where the moon glowed more brilliantly then the rest of the estate. There was a reason for it. It wasn’t like it was an unknown phenomena, the reason he knew the moon glowed better there was the same reason he had snuck in that night.

She was an image crafted by the angels themselves and pure love. Her every movement was slowed down and with every flick of her blonde golden hair time almost stopped. Her eyes could melt the Arctic Circle by her beautiful brown eyes that shone like embers in the sun.

She went into a crouching position and crawled towards the end so to not been seen. She wore a pink tank top with a baseball jacket on along with jeans with brown boots with a small backpack on her back.

In her hands were sheets tied into knots. As cliché as it sounded she was going to climb down on said sheets. By the one pillar to the side she knotted the sheet around it expertly, pushed it to the side of the building were a blind spot was for the guards and climbed to the side.

Their eyes met briefly, and her lips crawled into a nervous smile. His teeth formed a bright smile, excited for her to reach him. She took in a deep breath before shifting her body off the balcony, holding for dear life onto the bed sheets.

He knew she didn’t like heights but she was shifting down warily. Half-way down she felt something odd with the rope she made from the sheets. The whole thing notched down a few inches without her influence. His eyes widened when he realized one of the knots were unravelling. He rushed underneath her.

“Luce, let go.” He whispered.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head furiously. She felt she inched down another notch and her worried eyes met his. He smiled softly,

“I’ll always catch you Luce.”

Closing her eyes tight she let go of the sheets and fell into his arms. She noticed he winced slightly and panicked.

“Are you okay?” she squeaked quietly.

He looked at her and gave her a devilish smile “You got to lay back on the pastries Luce.” He joked.

Her face turned red and she smacked him hard in the head. He tried to control his laughter as she did so. The sound of footsteps interrupted his sensitive ears and he covered the blondes mouth darting his eyes to hers telling her to stop hitting him. She did just so and he lifted his hand off her mouth.

Still holding her, he crept back closer into the blind spot of the building and crouched down low, waiting for the noise to fade away from their position. Instead the sound got louder and louder and the two were terrified as the footsteps were near their position.

“Princess?” Lucy recognised who it was, as there was only one person that called her that.

Lucy tried to crawl off Natsu, but he refused since he didn’t trust anyone except Lucy at this point. She gave him a pleading look indicating to let her and he let out a sigh as let his arms fall off her. She smiled and got up onto her feet, peaking her head out to meet the familiar face.

“Virgo…” she whispered.

The pink hair maid looked confused, her blue eyes dull and her head turned to the side. “Are you leaving us Princess?” she said in a monotone voice that she always uses.

Lucy looked upset as if she felt guilty “Virgo- I'm sorry. If I stay, I can’t be with him.” She said referring to Natsu behind her.

Her faithful friend on this lonely estate gently smiled and did something Lucy had not expected. She hugged her. It felt special as she knew Virgo wasn’t an affectionate woman and was mostly an obedient servant of the house.

“Be safe Princess.” She said as Lucy started to cry and pulled away from her trusted companion. 

A loud voice broke through the estate; Lucy knew all too well who it was.

Her father.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu in panic, her father knows she’s trying to escape.

“Natsu what are we going to-?”

He shushed her with his finger. “It’s not over.” He declared.

He shifted his sights on Virgo and pleaded to her “Can you help us?”

She looked different from her normal stoic expression, with her eyebrows slightly scrunched and her mouth turning into a smirk she nodded with a determined expression. Lucy smiled and pulled the same expression.

* * *

Virgo started to run to where Jude Heartfilia’s voice was yelling. She was slightly out of breath in accordance with her acting.

“Master Jude, I saw your daughter.” She said with a blank expression.

Jude’s attention was on Virgo, his angry expression could have killed a man on the spot

“Where?” he growled.

“The back of the estate. She and another made a break for it in the woods.” Virgo declared.

Jude nodded and yelled to his guards “I want all guards to the woods now!”

He started to walk to the direction too “You’re dismissed Virgo.” he said walking away.

Mischievously, her smile crawled onto her face. When the coast was clear she saw from a distance the two exited the front gate. Making it on foot to where she assumed the boy hid a car.

The lights of the vehicle caught the attention of some lone guard nearby and they drove away as fast as they could. The guard couldn’t make it in time though, he didn’t even make it close to them when the car already pulled off.

As the last bit of light shined in the distance, a single tear escaped the Virgo’s eye.

The old Blue Cadillac’s soft top roof was pulled down. The wind blew wildly against their faces and their smiles were wider than the horizon. Her golden hair was loose and flew against the wind. He wanted to always look to this expression for the rest of his days, the expression he knew she deserved. She was free and he would keep her free no matter the cost.

The new morning sun dawned upon them and left a gorgeous pink hue across the sky as they travelled on the empty highway with an occasional truck in view.

That was the perfect moment that felt like a glorious eternity at that moment.

Then came the hard part.

They drove aimlessly for days, hoping to find the most deserted place in Fiore. They passed countless towns but they all seemed too bustling for their liking. With the money saved up by Natsu they went by easily for the first week just driving around to different places, stayed at local motels and to provide provisions to eat.

His calculations on finding a quieter town to stay in for a while and start saving up money again was difficult. So they stuck to the open road, with the saved money he had dwindled quickly.

Before they knew it, they had only enough money for gas to travel near Magnolia. To save money, they slept in the Cadillac or by a flickering fire huddled up in an old blanket. He then started doubting his motives, her trust and their strength. She was so angry at him that night.

After her yelling session she kissed him with tears running down her cheeks.

He held her so securely, arms wrapped around her, grounding himself at the same time.

She pulled out his grip to kiss him again gently and asked him “I wouldn’t be able to be with you. Don’t break my heart and wish you weren’t here with me.”.

“I only wish for you to be happy” he rasped.

The two peacefully slept that night and the next morning in their tattered clothing’s they searched for a new ambition.

“We need to get jobs.” The blonde said to him behind her sunglasses, riding alongside him in the blue Cadillac.

He glanced to her in the corner of his eye and let a sigh. “That would mean we would stay in a town for a week or two.” He stated the obvious.

She faced him and pulled her shades down “We need money Natsu.” She said in a low voice.

He didn’t glance to her that time, just nodded and mumbled “I’m afraid we’ll be caught.”

She gazed at him and back to the road. “I am too you know.” She whispered against the wind, but loud enough for him to hear.

His frown deepened. They continued driving until Natsu spotted a gas station ahead with a convenience store next door. He smiled slightly and changed into gear before grabbing onto Lucy’s hand. Startled she looked to him and then looked to the direction to where he was looking.

“I have an idea.” He said with an expression she knew to be his ‘revelation face’.

Pulling into the parking area he grabbed his wallet and turned to Lucy “I know this sounds weird but meet me in the mother’s room in the bathroom. I’ll be there in a few.”

She nodded slowly not really sure of what will take place. She then wrapped a scarf around her head in case someone would spot her and she dashed to the bathrooms. Natsu watched her dash and he quickly tucked his pink locks under a baseball cap and then put his jackets hood over as well.

He walked into the convenience cautiously and quickly looked over his shoulder to see who was at the counter. He sighed in relief to see a young blonde teen playing on his cell phone. He made a b-line to the isle where he could find hair products. He carefully studied each box and chose the ones that appealed to him. He looked over his shoulder and saw another person behind the counter; this boy though had black shaggy hair.

He started to pick up on their conversation began to worry

“Sting get off your phone before you get caught again” the dark headed boy said.

“Yeah yeah Rogue, just wait a minute. Yukino just texted me that some heiress in Konvern ran away with some guy. There’s like this huge bounty for the guy and the heiress’s dad is offering big money for his daughter back.”

Rogue moved in next to him to look at his phone. “Serious?”

Sting moved back slightly smirking at him “Interested much?”

The dark headed boy rolled his eyes “Of course. I would love to get rich easy and leave this dump”

Sting laughed at him heartily and got startled when a certain hooded person dropped his items on the counter. Rogue stifled a laugh and moved away so Sting could work.

Sting glared at the hooded man and ran his items through. Confused at the two colours of hair dye he looked up to Natsu.

“What’s with the two different hair dyes bud?” he asked

Natsu looked up “Girlfriend messed my hair up the first time. There’s a good chance she’ll mess up the second.”

Sting laughed at him forgetting he was slightly irritated at the hooded man. He tried to look at his hair peeking out from his hat “Dude she made it pink?! Tell you what I’ll give you a 15% off deal. That’ll be 120 Jewels.”

Natsu smiled and handed him the money “Thanks man. You saved my ass.”

After paying he quickly rushed to the Mothers room to meet with Lucy.

Once in, he saw her pushing herself off the wall she was leaning on. He took his hood and cap off and lifted his packet in front of her.

“So, do you want brown hair or red?” he asked smiling.

She smirked at him “Brown”

* * *

“Nathan, clean up at table seven” an older male called in the diner.

“Sure Gildarts!” ‘Nathan’ or otherwise known as a disguised Natsu came through the kitchen, displaying his spikey red hair that poked in several directions.

He walked past his employer and playfully punched him in the arm. The older man punched him back harder and knocked him off his feet. Gildarts boomed out laughing at the sight.

“Oi you old Geezer, is this how you treat your daughter?” the red head asked

Gildarts smirked and brought a whiskey flask to his lips despite the time being 10am.

“And do you always moan like a child when your girlfriend ain’t around?” Gildarts countered

Natsu stuck out his tongue and continued to work in the diner for the rest of the day. As it got darker, he noticed how considerably quieter it had gotten which was probably due to the fact the town had a lot of older folk living nearby. It had been a few weeks since they had arrived in the town and had introduced themselves under different names.

Natsu and Lucy were close to gathering up money again. Through the few weeks they decided to head to Magnolia as it was the only town in Fiore that wasn’t run by Crocus Capital.

They would be safe there. They could start anew.

The end of his shift was catching up to him and the prospect of laying down next to Lucy in his motel room sounded heavenly. He sighed tiredly while he collected the dishes and stepped in front of Gildarts for further instruction.

Gildarts stared at the him as if he had something on his face. Not far off though, he brought his hand up to Natsu’s head and yanked him forward by this hair.

“WHAT THE HELL OLD MAN!” Natsu yelled in pain.

Gildarts inspected his hair and let go of it “So your natural hair colour is pink?.” He observed.

Natsu gulped “Uh yeah… well as you can see it’s really embarrassing so I covered it.”

“And I'm guessing Layla isn’t a brunette either.” He said plainly.

Natsu felt like he was being analysed under a microscope. Gildarts looked at him with a blank stare, it felt like an eternity of silence. He shook his head disappointingly and looked at the red Natsu.

“You kids don’t respect your bodies at all.”

Natsu so badly wanted to let out a sigh but nervously rubbed the back of his head. “Aye, we weren’t thinking when we did it.”

Natsu spotted two girls coming toward the diner and his smile grew wide. Two brunette girls walked in but he only paid attention to His Lucy who wore hers in a high side pony tail. From the looks of it, some new blonde hairs poking out of her roots. Her eyes though still revved with life and investigated his soul giving him goose bumps. Although missing Lucy’s blonde sunlight hair, he admits the brunette colour suited her too.

He smiled at her lovingly but was interrupted by a punch in the arm. Though it wasn’t Gildarts.

“Nathan stop being a pervert, my old man and I are here too you.” A female voice said after she punched him.

The girl who was standing next to his girlfriend was one of their age and sporting a very inappropriate outfit of a bikini top and jeans that reached her knees. Her hair was a rich chocolate brown and was slightly wavy. She held a beer bottle in the one hand and stunk of booze.

“Don’t show up to the diner drunk Cana. I don’t care that Gildarts is your dad, you’re scaring off customers and my girlfriend.”

She smiled cheekily threw her tongue out and wrapped her arm around Lucy’s waist, earning a growl from Natsu.

“Fine fine, I get it” she said throwing her arms in the air and stepping away from Lucy.

“By the way Layla thanks for putting extra hours in at the store. See you tomorrow for our shift.” Cana said before gorging herself in her beer and walking to the kitchen.

Once the couple were alone Natsu closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a hug. She snuggled in his shoulder, letting out a sigh. They had been closer these past few weeks. Finding the town was a good idea although their visit was expiring which started to upset them both. Gildarts and Cana definitely made them feel at home.

“I wish we could stay like this.” she mumbled

‘Yeah that would be nice’ Natsu thought.

* * *

They were happily in each other’s arms sleeping in their Motel room before they heard sirens blared from a distance. They both jolted from their sleep and looked to each other in concern. Natsu’s fear was escalating and Natsu was never the type to be afraid.

The next thing they heard was a rapping noise at the door. The two got up and Natsu darted his eyes to the bathroom for Lucy to understand that he wanted her there for safety

She refused as persistent knocker kept rapping against the wood. Natsu growled quietly in annoyance and handed her the lamp while he picked up an old baseball bat he usually kept in his car. He crept to the door but froze at the sound of a familiar voice on the other side.

“Nathan open up.” the voice said. Natsu opened the door to find Gildarts.

“I know who you two are.” He declared.

Natsu was ready to take a swing before Gildarts held his hand up. “I'm helping you kids out, so put the weapons down.”

Hesitantly he lowered the bat “Why should we trust you?” Lucy said behind Natsu.

The older man looked behind him to check if the coast is still clear. “Because I know a thing or two about love, Miss Heartfilia of Konzern”

Lucy got taken aback by his statement ”Listen you two. Someone informed the police you’re here. They are checking all the resident’s houses and other motels as we speak. You need to get out of here this instance!”

They didn’t save enough to get to Magnolia, it was a three-day trip and they had to pay for residency there which wasn’t cheap. They had no choice though.

Lucy already gathered her there things and ran up next to Natsu and Gildarts. The older man smiled at the two and brought his fist to Natsu’s hand and he dropped an item into Natsu’s. The item was revealed to be a bundle of money.

Lucy’s mouth became dry and tried to protest. “Gildarts we can’t-”

“You can and you will.” He interrupted

Gildarts grabbed the two in a bear hug and bid them kind words before they got in Natsu’s Cadillac.

“Will we be okay?” Natsu asked referring to the road being clear for their escape.

“Cana should already be starting with a distraction at the local bar. It’ll only give you a few minutes. You better rev it to lose them kid.” Gildarts explained.

Natsu nodded and Lucy teared up while they said their last words of departure and a message of thanks to Cana.

Natsu started up the car and floored it on the accelerator, jerking them forward onto the road leaving Gildarts behind in the dust. Flying onto the main road they quickly left the town with ease but as the minutes passed sirens screamed out behind them and the Blue Cadillac was trying to push itself further away from the speeding cars behind it.

They drove for ten minutes and the cop cars were getting closer and closer.

How would they get away?

Natsu recollected a memory and smiled “I'm an idiot”

Lucy looked at him anxiously “Natsu?”

His grin split wildly across his face “Listen I forgot about an item I bought, it’s in the back of the car. When I say _‘now’_ , take the wheel and get into the driver’s seat okay”

Her heart was thumping so hard it made her whole body quiver. She nodded and readied herself.

Natsu pulled down the soft top of the car and yelled out and she grabbed the wheel immediately as he crawled to the rear of the car. She kept at the same speed and steadied the car so he wouldn’t fall off.

Oh, how she prayed he wouldn’t fall off.

Natsu tried to pull the back of the seat down that connected to the trunk to retrieve the packet he was searching for and a tank of dark liquid Lucy didn’t regonise. Closing it he almost lost his grip the packet and almost lost the contents.

He gulped at his mistake and grabbed the container out the plastic packet. With what little light he got, he opened the container to reveal large nails. Grinning evilly he scattered them behind the car so the police vehicles would stumble on them. Next he opened the container that reeked of oil and he generously poured it out behind them as they drove.

Once he cleared the large container, he pulled himself into the passenger seat. He noticed Lucy’s face morphed in concentration mixed with fright and he lay his hand on her shoulder to ease her slightly.

“Notice anything different?” Natsu said while looking behind them.

She glanced in all the mirrors and noticed the slights dimming down behind them. She smiled widely and looked over to Natsu.

“And you said I only shopped for junk” he joked while her heart was still flying.

She shook her head with disbelief and giggled while he grinned at her as he always did, canine teeth and all.

“I love you” he said while laughing against the cold wind blowing in his face.

She couldn’t contain the heat rising to her cheeks “I love you too.”

Giving her a kiss on her blushing cheek they kept riding along the road they’ve grown to love. The Blue Cadillac brought them so much _Happiness_ within the course of their travels and they drove wit determination they’d arrive in Magnolia in a few days.

The sunrise was so beautiful that morning, so full of hope. They never for a moment thought, “Will the sun rise today?” because they knew it would.

They had both lived lonely lives and were determined not to be separated again, even if that meant that they had nothing.


End file.
